


Multiple Choice

by CharlotteML



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Blood and Gore, Dark, Execution, Gen, Heavy Angst, Major Spoilers, Why Did I Write This?, everyone dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:00:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteML/pseuds/CharlotteML
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A soulless Kiyotaka survives until the fourth trial... but he still doesn't believe the result of the second trial was true... he's sure Monokuma is just executing whoever Makoto convinces everyone to say they should execute...<br/>Then during the fourth trial he believes he's the blackened this time, causing the group to pick the wrong result.<br/>But Monokuma gives him a chance... pick a student to execute- if it's the one killing them off one by one the rest of them get to leave! Should be easy... right?</p><p>(Not really Ishimondo, but it's mentioned. Set in an AU where Ishida doesn't happen. Beginning's a bit disconnected from the rest of the story because this was originally supposed to just an introspective piece but then I came up with a plot.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Multiple Choice

**Author's Note:**

> So last night I discovered this (http://bamboo-woods.tumblr.com/post/98146758224/the-fan-comic-of-au-where-kuwata-leon-is-the) fan comic where a still-soulless Kiyotaka survives until the end of the game, because Hifumi figures out Celestia’s planning to betray him and kills her instead, then is executed. That gave me the inspiration for a fic where a soulless Kiyotaka is being accused of Sakura's murder.
> 
> And then I actually started writing it and it changed entirely about halfway through which is why the first part is so wildly different from the second part…
> 
> Also the new executions are the unused ones mentioned in the official DR artbook.
> 
> (Also I am still working on One Personal Favour, I just occasionally want to write something else as a break from it)

“Kiyotaka, if someone is upsetting you, you have to _say_ something…” His mother had scolded him, the one time he’d hit another child. “ _Talking_ about problems is _always_ better than violence!”

He’d lived by those words… repeated them to fellow students as he wrote out detention slips, organised mediation sessions to help other students talk to each about their problems, volunteered as class rep so his classmates would have someone to _say_ their problems to...

But then he’d come to Hope’s Peak…

The headmaster had _said_ they had to kill each other… That had upset him so he’d _said_ they should have meetings in the morning to get to know each other… and it had been at one of the meetings when they’d discovered Sayaka was _dead_ … Monokuma had _said_ they had to have a trial, and Junko had _said_ she didn’t want to and then she was _dead._ Then they’d all _spoken_ about it at the trial and Leon had _died_ to.

Then Mondo had _said_ he’d not shout at Chihiro and then Chihiro was _dead._ Kiyotaka had _said_ things to try to figure out who was responsible and then his _Kyoudai_ was _dead_ … and he’d screamed and screamed until his throat was hoarse and he couldn’t _say_ anything else.

But that didn’t matter, because he had nothing to _say!_ His mind was too full of regrets and wishes that he could go back in time and stop himself from _saying_ those stupid, stupid words that Kyoko, Makoto and even Mondo himself had used to _say_ that his Kyoudai was a murderer…

They must have lied… Monokuma could _say_ his Kyoudai was a murderer, but he wouldn’t believe it… he’d _NEVER_ believe it! Monokuma had just executed the one they _said_ was a murderer! Because that’s how this worked, wasn’t it? All _saying_ anything did here was _kill!_

So he’d realised he shouldn’t _say_ anything else… but none of his classmates had. Celestia had _said_ something to Hifumi, and then she was _dead_ … or so Makoto had _said_ at the class trial… and then Hifumi was _dead…_

Then Monokuma had _said_ something in the gym, and Hina was… _not_ _dead_ , perhaps because there were less of them _saying_ things now? He needed to get them all to stop _saying_ things all the time… but how, without _saying_ anything himself?

This was the conundrum playing through his mind as he sat in his room, when the doorbell rang. It was Makoto, with a concerned look and a tray holding tea and some rice…

He remembered the times he’d come home crying because of things the other children at school had _said_ … and how his father would bring dinner on a tray to his room and give him a hug, letting him cry on his shoulder… understanding that he what he wanted without him having to _say_ it.

He opened the door and stepped back to let in Makoto, who put the tray down on his desk and turned to him. Kiyotaka waited for a hug…

But instead Makoto just started _saying_ things… “Do you understand what’s happening?” … “Sakura’s been helping Monokuma.” … “Togami said it’s better if she dies…” … “Asahina slapped him so Syo stabbed her…” … “Sakura said she’d going to resolve it…” still no hug… he just kept _saying_ things again and again and each one made fear stab into his gut like knives…

“Please… Just leave me be…” He shouldn’t have _said_ it… but at least it got Makoto to stop. The boy left without another word… at least not to him…

“Did you tell him what happened?” Kirigiri was _saying._

“Yeah… just asked me to leave him alone though…” Makoto was _saying_ back. “I’ll try to talk to him again tomorrow.”

Why didn’t he understand? Why did no one understand!

He hugged Mondo’s coat again, trying to remember the hugs and laughter they’d shared and the feeling of Mondo's warm arms around him and his face nuzzled into the back of his neck... but all he could remember was the execution… that Mondo was _dead_ because of what he’d _said_ and no one else understood and tears fell from his eyes as he tried to hold back sobs in case those counted as _saying_ something as well…

The doorbell rang… not more people _saying_ things… he opened it.

No one was there… but there was a note stuck to his nameplate. It read “Come to the rec room before noon.”

 _Notes…_ If he couldn’t _say_ anything… He’d just write a _note!_

An hour later he was walking to the rec room, all his thoughts arranged neatly on the sheets of paper in his hands.

He checked his watch. It was a minute before the deadline whichever classmate had called him here had set. Good… He went to open the door… but it wouldn’t. He checked the window, Sakura was in there, having a drink. He knocked to get her attention.

She looked at him for a while, then slowly came over to open the door. “Kiyotaka…” She started _saying…_ With a flash of panic he thrust the note in here face, so she’d understand what he’d discovered!

She looked at it for a while, then she collapsed. What was wrong with her? All she’d done was read the note… oh no… did _notes_ count!? And he’d written a long one…

He checked her pulse… nothing. She was _dead._ He _killed_ her… he’s been stupid, again, and _said_ something… everything on his mind even, and it had _killed_ her!

He… he needed to destroy this _note…_ before anyone else saw it and _died…_

 

“Kiyotaka… if you _didn’t_ kill Sakura you need to _say_ something!” Makoto was telling him in the class trial.

“I’m telling you, it’s him! I saw him running out of the rec room!” Hina was saying back.

He kept his silence… he’d already killed Sakura, no need to endanger anyone _else_ by _saying_ anything. Even with him destroying the murder weapon, Hina had known it was him who killed her friend. He just had to wait until Makoto and Kyoko stopped arguing and they all _said_ he’d done it…

“Maybe he’s broken?” Hiro was asking _._

“It’s obviously just an act!” Byakuya said back.

“I don’t think it is…You need to consider other people’s feelings… think what he’s _gone_ through!” Kyoko told him…

He wished he could stop this… Kyoko and Makoto were risking everyone’s lives! But he couldn’t risk _saying_ it to them… He just wished they could get to the vote, then he’d press this button with his name on it and then it’d be his execution…

How did Mondo stay so calm during his trial… he wished he had even an ounce of the man's strength! All he could think about was what his execution would be… would it hurt? Would he scream? Would there be anything after? Would he go to Hell?

Would Mondo be there…? Hell wouldn’t be so bad if Mondo was there... but then they’d probably think of that. They’d probably make a special room to keep him away from Mondo… for eternity. Or maybe they’d make him kill Mondo over and over again, as his punishment for doing it the first time. Or maybe they’d force Mondo to kill him…

Or maybe they wouldn’t _need_ to force him, maybe his hell would be a world where Mondo _wanted_ to kill him. Where he had to run from the Crazy Diamonds day after day in order to stop them from dragging him back to his ‘Kyoudai’… who’d happily bludgeon him with a dumbbell, the way Makoto _said_ he’d killed Chihiro…

“H-hey… why are y-y-you shaking like that!” Toko suddenly said _._

“He’s scared! He’s scared because we’re calling him a murderer!” Makoto shouted.

“Or he’s trying to confess and he’s too mentally deficient to do it!” Togami suggested _._

“Weeellll…. This trial’s getting boring!” Monokuma _said_. “And it’ll take _for-e-ver_ if one of you collapses before the vote! So as a reward for being nice and quiet, I’ll let Kiyotaka vote for who he thinks the blackened is now!”

His panel lit up, and his alone... he had to pick out the blackened… the _killer_ … the one who not been able to keep quiet, despite understanding how this worked… the ones who’d forced Sakura to read all the words he’d _said,_ not only about keeping quiet but also all the superfluous nonsense how he felt and what he’d wanted…

He picked his own name.

“Well… that settles things, Monokuma, call the vote!” Byakuya insisted.

“No! That doesn’t mean anything! He did that in the last two trials!” Makoto shouted.

“Ok! Voting time!” Monokuma activated the other student’s panels.

“Monokuma’s too happy about this… letting Kiyotaka vote first was obviously a trap!” Kyoko was still arguing…

“Then why isn’t he _saying_ anything to defend himself!” Hina asked. “If he didn’t kill Sakura then keeping quiet would just kill him as well!”

“He’s not said anything since Mondo died though!” Makoto exclaimed. “Wait… Wait, I get it! I get why he’s…”

“That’s enough! No more talking! It’s voting time!” Monokuma shouted. “Anyone who talks now gets a penalty!”

There was silence… finally! He hoped they made the right choice… aside from a small evil part of him that was scared of what would happen if they _did_ …

“And the results are in!” Monokuma was _saying_. “With four votes for Kiyotaka and two for Sakura, you guys got it… _WRONG!”_

Wait… why did he _say_ that?

“ _What!?_ Byakuya growled. “Then why was he running from the crime scene!?”

He didn’t _say_ that when they _said_ it was _Mondo_ …

“You really didn’t…? Then why didn’t you SAY something?” Hina was asking him.

Why was he _saying_ it now!?

“Now we’re all going to die, man! Game over!” Hiro yelled.

“No… no that’s not how this works!” He tried to tell them… “You _said_ I did it, so I’m the one who _dies!”_

“W-what! Y-you idiot! Weren’t you listening when Monokuma explained the rules!?” Toko asked. “We got it wrong so now we _all_ die!”

Of course he had heard… but Monokuma could _say_ anything he wanted… it didn’t make it true!

“…He still doesn’t believe Mondo killed Chihiro.” Makoto sighed. “He thinks Monokuma’s just killing the person we vote for regardless…”

“That’s because Monokuma _IS_ just killing who you _SAY_ to! Mondo _DIDN’T_ kill Chihiro! You just _SAID_ he did!” He yelled angrily… “Mondo was innocent, but you and Kyoko _SAID_ he was guilty so many times even HE believed it and now my Kyoudai is _DEAD!”_

“Monokuma confirmed it…” Kyoko tried to argue.

“He _LIED!_ And he’s lying now! I _did_ kill Sakura!” He told them all, angry tears streaming from his eyes. “I was running from the crime scene because I was trying to destroy the weapon before I killed anyone else with it!”

“Uhh… I thought the murder weapon was the poison we found in that bottle?” Hiro muttered. All those things he’d just _said_ and they still didn’t understand!

“YUP! It was!” Monokuma continued to lie. “And Sakura herself was the blackened!”

Was he trying to claim Sakura poisoned herself, how dare he say that about her! “That’s ridiculous! Why _would_ she do that!? _I_ was the one who killed her!”

“Upupupupu! Heeey! Do you guys wanna see something _funny?_ ” Monokuma asked, “Lemme show you what Kiyotaka here _thinks_ the murder weapon was!” He held up his _note_ taped back together from when he’d shredded it… “He didn’t do a very good job of destroying it!”

The others went to look at it… “NO! DON’T READ WHAT IT _SAYS!”_ He tried to warn them…

They didn’t listen, they all crowded around it… he grimaced as he waited for them to collapse…

“T-this is j-just paper! Does he think he’s such a good writer he can kill by writing a note?” Toko still hadn’t understood how this school worked…

“This is all over the place… why are parts of it diagonal? Does it double as a summoning circle or something?” What was Hiro talking about… it had been perfectly neat when he’d written it!

“’Cease all verbal communication’… ‘Mastermind’s method of termination’?” Byakuya read from the note _out loud_! Was he  _insane!_

“He thinks we were dying because we _talked_ to each other?” Hina asked

“That’s insane!” Byakuya snapped, flipping through the sheets of paper. “This whole _note_ is just a mess of insane ramblings!”

He’d read the whole thing? Sakura only looked at the first page... “…How haven’t you collapsed?”

They stopped reading it, and looked at him, sad looks in their eyes. Makoto picked up a brown bottle he’d been showing people during the trial. “Taka… did you see Sakura drinking from this?” He asked.

“Yes.” He remembered.

“Then WHY didn’t you SAY so!?” Hina cried. “Weren’t you listening to the trial at all!?”

“No.” He admitted… he’d just been waiting for it to be over and them to _say_ he’d done it.

“Ok… well, in the trial, we worked out that this was poison…” Makoto said gently. “Sakura drank it to kill herself…You _didn’t_ kill her…”

Was that true?

“Of course… now he’s just killed _all_ of us as well!” Byakuya snapped.

No… he couldn’t trust Makoto… Makoto had said _Mondo_ was a killer…

“No… _you’ve_ killed us all by trusting the judgement of someone who is _clearly_ having a mental breakdown!” Kyoko snapped.

There was no way Mondo was a killer… so Makoto must be…

“Lying… You’re lying!” He told him “You’re _lying!_ You’ve been _lying_ the whole time! You lied about Mondo! You probably lied about Leon and Hifumi as well, and now you’re lying about Sakura!”

“…Taka… I…” Makoto pretended to be upset.

“Don’t ‘ _Taka_ ’ me! You’ve been _lying_ about being our friend, haven’t you!? _YOU’RE_ the mastermind! That’s why _you’ve_ been the one who’s picking who to _kill_ each trial!” He’d finally worked it out. “That’s why you kept _talking_ to everyone all the time! Because that’s how you were _killing_ us!”

“…You’re insane…” Byakuya stated.

“No! _HE’S_ inane! He’s the one who’s been _killing_ us, one by one! Now he’s got bored and wants to kill us all at once!” He grabbed the mastermind by his stupid stylish hoodie and shook him… as if that could make up for the _pain_ and _suffering_ and _death_ he’d caused. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! Could you even _begin_ to make us understand how you could _do_ this!?”

“Grab him!” He thought Kyoko was rallying the others to help him restrain the mastermind… but they all took a hold of _himself_ instead!

“What!? What are you _doing!? He’s_ the mastermind! He’s the one doing _all_ of this!” He tried to get free of them… but there were four of them against him and he had no hope of breaking free…

“A _haaa_ hahaha _HAH_!” Monokuma- controlled by Makoto obviously, laughed riotously at his classmates’ misjudgement. “As much as I’m loving this despair, we’ve gotta get on with the… _GROOOOUP PUNISHMENT TIIIIIME!”_ Monokuma brought out a little hammer and hit the big red button he always used to start punishments…

He felt a collar tighten around his neck, then chocked as it roughly pulled him backwards to slam against a chair, which he was quickly locked into.

“Buuuut you know… this isn’t any _fun_ without giving you guys a chance… after all it’s just be a Total Party Kill, and that’s _boring!_ ” Monokuma complained. “So… how’s _this!_ Kiyotaka… I’ll ask you a question… a multiple choice question… and when you get the right answer, I’ll let all the other students leave!”

“Do _we_ get a say in this?” Byakuya asked.

“You were gonna die anyway glasses… maybe _this_ way you won’t!” Monokuma laughed. “Assuming Kiyotaka thinks he’s up to the question!”

A multiple choice question…? And then everyone could leave? “I accept!”

“Awesome!” Hiro cheered.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Kyoko muttered.

“OOOOKAAAY! Time to start _Group Execution: Kiyotaka’s Multiple Choice Quiz!_ ” Monokuma cackled as a terminal came up from the floor, with red buttons marked with each of their names on it.

“ _G-group execution…_ B-but you said if he gets it right then we get to leave!” Toko stammered.

“Yeeeahh… but if he gets it wrong it’s the group execution!” Monokuma explained. “You’ll see how it works in a minute…”

“So… what’s the question?” He’d have to consider the answer to this very carefully… his classmates _lives_ were on the line…

“The question is: **_Who’s the one killing off his fellow students here… one by one?_** ”

The others gasped and Kyoko even cried out “Kiyotaka, wait!” before he responded.

“That’s easy! I already said _that!_ ” He cried, jubilantly…

“W-wait… T-Taka _please!”_ Makoto tried to worm his way out of it.

“The answer’s _MAKOTO NAEGI!”_ He slammed his finger down on the correct button.

“NO!” His classmates cried, but they couldn’t do anything to stop Makoto being dragged back by the chain, into a large wooden barrel, where he was then trapped by a wooden lid.

It shook for a while, and the lid almost came off, but then a large sword flew in from the side pierced into the barrel, followed by several others… the barrel continued to shake, as Makoto presumably dodged them, but after a while it steadied and a thin red substance started leaking out…

Monokuma headed over to it and lifted the lid… “Eeeewwww… nasty!” He said, peeking inside. “Hey, Kiyotaka… you wanna have a look?”

“N-no!” The red blood and his imagination was making him feel sick enough. “Just let us go now!”

“Let you go? Why would I do that?” Monokuma asked.

“Because you said if I got the correct answer…!”

“But you _didn’t!_ Upupupu! Makoto’s never hurt anyone in his boring little life!”

“So… so I just… I just killed an innocent person…?” Oh _gods…_ He’d been _tricked_ …

“Ahaaaahaha! Yep!” Monokuma laughed,

The mastermind had _tricked_ him into killing _Makoto!_ And in such a horrible way, trapped with no way out desperately trying to avoid being skewered only to fail and be pierced and feel his blood dripping down his skin away as his life drained…

He brought up a hand to his mouth and retched, acid stinging his throat at the contents of his empty stomach left him.

“Now then! Time for your next guess!”

“ _Next_ guess!?” He had another chance?

“Yep… I’ll let you keep guessing until you get it right!” Monokuma said, “Of course… each of those buttons starts an execution… so you’d better be preeeetty sure you’ve got the right answer this time!”

He gulped… there were six names left… But obviously his own wasn’t correct so that left five… but how to choose the correct one?

“W-wait… what if there _is_ no correct answer?” Toko asked. “What if it’s a trick to get you to k-kill us all?”

“Nope! There is a correct answer on that panel!” Monokuma said. “ _Bear’s promise!”_

How _dare_ he use Mondo’s words like that…

 _Using Mondo’s words_ … Someone _else_ had done that, hadn’t she?

“Kiyotaka… think _carefully_ about this… _Consider the question_ for a moment…” Kyoko said, trying to direct his thought process…

In fact, she’d been directing _every_ trial they’d had, and agreeing with Makoto at every step, hadn’t she! She’d probably been feeding him lines beforehand in an effort to dupe them all! Well he’s seen through her!

“No! I don’t _need_ to think! I’ve got you figured out… _KYOKO KIRIGIRI_!” He slammed his hand on her button… at least he’d avenge poor Makoto, and Mondo and everyone _else_ she’d killed!

“The question isn’t about…urk!” Kyoko was trying to weasel out of it even as the chain pulled tight around her neck and locked her to a chair, sitting on a conveyor belt facing a blackboard with a waggling Monokuma in front of it.

The conveyor belt started, and as it did so did the thumping of a large metal weight at the back, rhythmically hitting the belt with enough force that it would crush Kyoko once she got back to it… which she would, as the belt was moving her slowly towards it.

She stayed cool and composed at first, and Kiyotaka thought he must have made the right choice… that this was just a show the mastermind was putting on, and she knew she wasn’t really in any danger…

But then her composure started to fade with each _thud_ of the weight, followed by his confidence in his answer… Each slam of the weight started a new question in his mind… _What_ if he was wrong? _Shouldn’t_ he have let her speak? _What_ was she trying to tell him? _How_ could he have done this? _How_ could he apologise? _Would_ God ever forgive him?

There was one final _thud…_ accompanied by a sickening _squelch…_ then there was silence.

“… That was the wrong answer… wasn’t it?” He asked quietly.

“ _YYEEEPP!_ ” Monokuma laughed.

He sobbed… He’d murdered her, without even giving her a chance to _speak!_ How could he have been so _stupid!_

She’d been right… he needed to consider this _carefully_ … he needed to _think_ … he needed to…

“You need to answer again.” Byakuya said.

“I’m thinking… I don’t know the answer…” How could he suspect them after everything they’d been through… he’d been so _sure_ about Makoto and Kyoko but that had been wrong… and Kyoko had told him to consider the _question…”_

 _“_ It’s probably Toko… she’s a _serial killer_ , remember?”

“Yes… you brought that up before… but I need to _think!_ I can’t make another hasty judgement!” He had to think about the _question…_

“This is just wasting everyone’s time though!” Byakuya complained.

“You didn’t mind wasting everyone time when you desecrated Chihiro’s _corpse!_ ” He yelled back, why wasn’t Byakuya letting him _think!?_ …Wait. “You’re trying to confuse me…” He realised.

“ _What!?_ NO!” Byakuya got scared as he realised that Kiyotaka was _on to him!_ “You need to _think_ about this! You insane loon!”

“Oh, _now_ I need to think? Now that I’ve figured out it’s _you!_ I should have known from the start! You probably even lied about seeing _Mondo! Didn’t_ you… _BYAKUYA TOGAMI!”_ He slammed his hand down on the button… How had he _not_ seen it before… Byakuya had been _enjoying_ these murders… these ‘ _games’_ as the sick man had called them!

That someone so _twisted_ had been lucky enough to be born into a family that fed him everything he wanted on a silver platter, while _his_ family had struggled with debts from a scandal he hadn’t even been _born_ during made his blood boil! And the heir had spent his entire time _here_ being obnoxious and causing problems… he was the first one to ditch the breakfast meetings, wasn’t he? And he’d spent the entire time making nasty little comments to make Mondo angry and Chihiro cry and himself feel like stupid garbage… Of _course_ he’d been the mastermind all along!

Well, _now_ it was _Byakuya’s_ turn to feel like garbage! Because the chain had pulled taught around his neck and thrown him into a _garbage can_ , and now he was being dragged down a hole in the floor, at which point a screen appeared and showed that the can had landed in hell, which was where the son of a bitch deserved to _be!_

He almost laughed when Monokuma appeared on the screen and threw stones at him… he wished he could have been there… throwing a stone for every student he’d killed… it was the very _least_ he deserved… hopefully Monokuma would _keep_ throwing stones, until he’d suffered the same fate as poor _Leon!_

But then he growled as the heir’s luck kicked back in… he’d managed to escape Monokuma and was running away and had managed to approach a door… He ran through it and barred it shut behind him…

But now he was still doomed… he’d come out in a room so cold it appeared to be snowing, with frost dropping down from the ceiling and fans blowing it all around… Byakuya dropped to his knees, shivering as his life force was slowly sapped away by the cold and blood loss from the rocks…

A slow, painful death… _Good!_ It served him right! It served him right for all the time _they’d_ spent in pain after his cruel _game_ had broken them, one by one and…

The screen shut off, to his immense annoyance! He’s wanted to see Byakuya get his just rewards!

“Welp, next guess, Kiyotaka?” Monokuma asked.

“…what?” His face dropped, a grin he hadn’t realised was there turning into a slack jaw as horror hit him. “…that wasn’t the right answer…?”

He’d just condemned Byakuya to a slow, cruel death… and while he might have been arrogant and had a sick sense of humour, he’d not actually done anything to deserve _that!_

And worse, he’d been watching with _glee_ …

“O-of _couse_ it wasn’t! Master would n-never had killed anyone!” Toko yelled at him. “H-he was probably r-right about it being G-genocider!”

“W-what!? You’re saying it’s _you!?”_

“I don’t _know!_ But why not just pick _me_ next, it makes more sense than _Byakuya_ did!”

“B-but if I’m wrong…I should _think!”_ Kyoko had mentioned the _question_ …

“W-what _now_ you want to stop and think! Byakuya is _dying!_ But if he’s right and it _is_ me you might be able to get him out _before_ he dies!”

Then he’d have only killed _half_ the people he’d been hoping to save… “I understand, _TOKO FUKAWA!”_ He quickly pressed her button, hoping she was right and that her execution would also be a short one.

The chain pulled her down into a dark room… But then a light flipped on and a retractable wall pulled apart, revealing the room Togami was in… the heir was lying prone on the floor…

Without hesitation Toko ran towards him… but then there was a crash and a giant steamroller crashed through the wall into the space between them… it turned in her direction and moved towards her at high speed.

She tried to run away from it… No she was just trying to draw it away from Byakuya, as she didn’t run for long before she slowed, then with a deep breath she faced it and let it run her over… first it hit her legs, knocking her to the floor, then it carried on over the rest of her… her flesh was squashed flat by its immense weight and after the roller had passed all that was left of Toko was a thin viscous smear that reminded him of Mondo’s remains…

Mondo… Toko had cared for Byakuya as much as he’d cared for Mondo, hadn’t she… hopefully she was right… hopefully her sacrifice would have saved the man she cared so deeply for from his _stupid, stupid_ mistake…Right?

“WRONG!” Monokuma ‘dinged’ as if reading his thoughts… “Time for your next guess!”

Another one? He only had two choices left… perhaps if he picked quickly Byakuya might…

“Also Byakuya’s dead now, so you can take your time with _this_ one!” Monokuma piped up.

Byakuya was dead… he’d killed Byakuya… just like he’d killed Makoto, Kyoko and Toko… and like he was going to kill one of the two sat in front of him… At the end of all this he’d be lucky if he even managed to save a single one of his classmates.

He looked at his two remaining choices… Hina was crying and Hiro was just staring in shock at the rampage he’d gone on… which ever one of them was innocent had had to watch as he’d stupidly killed off all their friends for pathetic reasons without taking time to even _think_ or let them explain themselves…

“I… I’m sorry!” He cried, “I’m sorry… I’m SORRY!” huge sobs escaped him as the enormity of how _stupid_ he’d been hit him… He’d killed _four_ of his friends! No one else had come _close_ to that! He’s was horrible! A _murderer!_

The three of them stayed like that for a while… in tears and shocked silence. He cried for long he thought he might run out of tears…

“Are you _gonna_ pick an answer?” Monokuma asked, “Cause I’d like this execution to finish something _today…_ ”

“Ngh!” He looked again at his last two choices… neither of them looked like someone who could do this… Both of them had been kind…How could he ever decide that one was a murderer? But one of them must be… Monokuma had _promised_ there’d be a correct answer to the question...

The _question…_ Kyoko had told him to _consider the question_ … her final clue before he’d _murdered_ her… had there been a detail he’d missed?

“I…” He swallowed… “Can I hear the question again, please?”

“Upupupupu! You know… you really shouldn’t be trying to answer questions you don’t understand!” Monokuma said mockingly. “The question _was:_ Who’s the one killing off his fellow students here… one by one?”

“ _His…”_ He noticed it this time…

“Huh?” Hiro and Hina both stirred slightly from their shock.

“Who’s killing _his_ friends, one by one?” Kiyotaka shook with rage as he looked at the fortune teller… “ _You!_ You’ve been duping us with you _stupid act_ this _whole time!”_

“W-what? No! I… I dunno what’s going on but I haven’t killed anyone!” Hiro waved his hands defensively, “It’s a conspiracy!”

 _A conspiracy…_ He’d been going on and on about _stupid_ nonsense like that the whole time they’d known each other! And he’d put up with it because he thought that was just how the fortune teller _was_ and at least he seemed like a reasonable chap, even for all his annoyingly _stupid_ ideas about how the government must be evilly ‘covering up’ his _stupid_ fantasy world he seemed to live in… and now he’d discovered it was all an _act!_

“Ah… ahahaha!” He laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it all… “… Did you find it _funny?_ Going on about conspiracies and aliens and fortunes and all that other nonsense, while we all just put up with it?” He asked. “Was it _fun?_ Watching me murder all my friends because of your _trick!?_ Did you try to _predict_ the order I’d do it in? Did you get it right? _DID YOU!?_ ”

He breathed heavily… he didn’t so much want to know the answer, he just wanted Hiro to drop his _stupid act!_ To show them the _real_ man who’d managed to get them into this hellish school, get them all to kill each, get them to execute his Kyoudai and had got him to send _four_ of his friends to cruel deaths… He wanted to see this genius mastermind… he _needed_ to see them, because he’d never be able to live with himself if he didn’t see the real person… how could he stand to think he’d been tricked into killing all those _wonderful_ people he’d just killed by this _IDIOT!_

“What! No man… it wasn’t me! Maybe I had an evil twin or something?”

“So you’re going act _stupid_ until the end… Make me think I was tricked by someone as idiotic as  _you, YASUHIRO HAGAKURE…”_ He pushed the button… There’d be no reasoning with him… Kiyotaka would just have to admire his dedication to his role… take solace in the fact that the man who’d outwitted him so thoroughly had at least been professional enough to see his duplicity through to the very end…

The chain dragged him across into a gaudy, _stupid_ looking gameshow, where he was faced with three doors and a notice saying that execution was behind one of them… The fortune teller checked a ball in his pocket, and Kiyotaka raged at the fact that he was _cheating…_ he’d made his own execution escapable… and he was doing just that, heading over to the door marked A…

Which grew feet and ran off… as did the door marked B.

Yasuhiro checked his ball again, obviously not wanting to enter the only remaining door… He looked around him and turned away from it, trying to find another way out…

It was at that point that the door suddenly stretched to amount twice its height… it’s middle turning into a cartoonish mouth as it stretched over the fortune teller and ‘ate’ him whole… making ridiculous ‘chewing’ motions…

Had Hiro even died? Had he made his own execution a farcical fake? There was no sign that the fortune teller was actually even injured… he might just have got up and strolled further into the door completely unscath…

The door made a stupid “Ptoooie!” sound effect and ‘spat’ Yasuhiro back out… His body was now a wrangled mess, limbs half missed and his spine twisted 90 degrees, blood was dripping all over him and his face was unrecognisable due to a ragged deep gash of tooth marks that had ripped it in half… Kiyotaka retched again, this time not even managing to cover his hand with his mouth…

Still… it was over now… He and Hina were alive at least, they’d be able to escape… and he’d be able to start atoning for the deaths of the four people he’d sent to die…

“Wrong again!” Monokuma ‘dinged’ “I _wonder_ who will be your _next_ guess!? Ahahahahaha!”

 _Five_ people… five people he’d sent to their death… including the poor _stupid_ fortune teller who’d been kind enough to call him chairman and ask for his own encouragement even when he’d been barely functioning after Mondo’s death…

And now he was looking at the person responsible for Mondo’s death… and everyone else’s… There’d been fifteen of them when they’d started, now they were down to two… She’d caused the deaths of thirteen people… thirteen of the world’s best and brightest students… all killed by this seemingly cheerful young swimmer sat opposite him, pretending to cry.

He wanted to know _why_ … _why_ had she _done_ this? What could _possess_ her to murder so many people… How could she have let him get so close to Mondo only to rip them apart by framing him? But he also knew he’d never be able understand… whatever the answer was, he’d be unable to fathom it… he couldn’t wish ill harm on even a single innocent… let alone devise sick twisted ways to mangle their bodies and then trick one of their friends into activating them…

And besides he didn’t want to give her the chance to explain… he’d not given any of the _innocent_ students a chance to talk… why should he give _her_ one! He looked at the last button. ‘AOI ASAHINA’ and pressed it numbly…

He barely even registered the look of surprise on her face when she did it, and he didn’t care when he saw the chain drop her into a tank of water… or when Monokuma ‘magically’ summoned sharks into it and hit it behind a curtain, and not even when the curtain rose and only the sharks and a pair of shoes remained…

It was over… he’d completely failed to save his fellow students, but at least the mastermind was dead… at least he could go home… and he could go to his room, and his father would bring him tea and rice and hug him and he’d _cry_ … He’d cry for hours, days, months… y _ears_ even!

He’d cry for optimistic Makoto, who’d been trying to gently explain what was going on to his crazed mind… he’d cry for Kyoko, who’d tried to use her last words to get him to _think_ about something he’d obviously been too stupid to notice… he’d cry for Byakuya, whose only crime had been to rub him the wrong way… he’d cry for Toko and her selfless final act… he’d cry for Hiro who’d understood about as little as _he_ had of what was going on…

“Wrong again!” Monokuma laughed. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

…and he’d cry for Hina… who he’d not even _warned_ before murdering her…

“You… _YOU LYING BASTARD!”_ He roared, “You _SAID_ one of the answers was _correct!”_

“And there is! I’ve not _lied_ about anything!” Monokuma laughed. “Including the fact that your _boyfriend_ was the one who killed the girly-boy!”

He _growled_ at the insinuation… “How can you claim there’s a correct answer when I’ve pushed every button here and they’re _all_ incorrect!?” He asked.

“You’ve not pushed _every_ button… maybe you should check the console again!” Monokuma suggested mockingly.

Had the console been a trick… had there been a button with the real mastermind’s name hidden from him on the back? He leaned over it, he couldn’t see anything… he tried feeling around the back, and down the base of the console…

“ _AHHAHAHAHAAAAA!_ ” Monokuma howled with laughter. “You _still_ don’t get it!? The answer’s right in _front_ of you!”

In front of him… He looked again. “The only answer left is _myself!_ And I know _I_ wasn’t responsible for any of the murders!”

“Upupupu! Do you need me to repeat the question…? I didn’t ask who the _murderers_ were…”

“I’m not the mastermind _either!_ ” He insisted.

“ _That_ wasn’t the question either… You just assumed one of them _had_ to be the mastermind, didn’t you…? Because you were too _stupid_ and _stubborn_ and _proud_ to admit your _Kyoudai_ MURDERED the ‘kid’ he promised not to make _cry!_

So… so Mondo… really _did_ kill Chihiro…? But then… that meant… “So… none of us had killed anyone! So what were you _asking!?_ ”

“I _asked:_ Who’s the one killing off his fellow students here… one by one _?”_ Monokuma asked the same question as before.

“But I _didn’t_ kill anyone… at least not until you asked the question!” This wasn’t _fair!_ The question was only correct because he’d been _tricked_ into executing the others!

“You shoulda listened to Kyoko you know… You need to consider the _question:_ Who’s the one killing off his fellow students here… _ONE BY ONE?”_

“ _But_ _no one’s done that!”_ He cried, this wasn’t making any _sense_ …

“Ooooohhh? You wanna maybe _consider_ what you’ve been doing with all those _buttons_ there?” Monokuma suggested.

“The… the... buttons…?” He looked at them… the buttons he’d used to send each of his friends… each of his fellow students… to their deaths… one… by… one…

He looked at the last remaining name… the one person who’d sat here and pushed them all _one by one_ … the one who’d skewered Makoto, crushed Kyoko, frozen Byakuya, steam rolled Toko, mangled Hiro and let Hina be eaten by sharks… all of them killed… _ONE BY ONE..._ by…

‘Kiyotaka Ishimaru’

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!” He screamed…He screamed at that name until his lungs were empty… He screamed at that name until his throat was raw… He screamed at that name until he lost the ability to scream and still he tried to scream silently at that name… because no amount of screaming could change it… no amount of screaming could let him escape the inescapable knowledge that the name left on the console, the correct answer to the question of who had sat here and _stupidly_ murdered all his friends was _HIS_ name! Because _HE’D_ been the one to murder them all! _HE’D_ been the one too blinded by love to understand that Mondo had done something _stupid_ and that he’d needed to accept it…

But he hadn’t… he’d come up with an insane theory and then based all his assumption off of _that_ … including the assumption that one of his friends must be a murderer, must be _tricking_ him… must have been the elusive ‘correct answer’ to the question of who he was supposed to kill _next…_ when the whole time the correct answer was _HIM!_

“Upupupupu! _That’s_ the kinda despair the viewers at home like to see! I’m _drooling_ just _thinking_ about how they must be feeling!”

“… _viewers?”_ He barely managed to croak out… someone had _seen_ him do this… this insane rampage of death he’d inflicted on his fellow students?

“Whoops! Wasn’t supposed to say that!” Monokuma exclaimed. “Oh well… won’t make any difference now… All the cameras around the school? They’re broadcasting this to the _whooooole wiiide wooorld!_ AHA _HAA_!”

He let out a small croak… The whole _world_ had seen him…? Did that include his _father_ …?

“Why…?” He needed to know… _why? Why_ would someone _do_ this? Why would someone make the whole world watch his stupid _evil_ mistake!

“To cause despair! You guys were the hopes of the world… and now everyone’s just seen you, _personally_ , kill off _six_ of those hopes! Upupupu! I’m just _tingling_ with the despair of it all!”

Tingling with despair… so he’d been right then. He couldn’t fathom the answer _at all_ …

“Soooo… You gonna pick your next guess?” Monokuma asked him. “You still need to answer the question!”

Ah… yes… He still had a correct answer to pick… The one he might have picked at the start… if he hadn’t been so _stupid_ and _paranoid_ and _evil_ enough to pick the names of everyone _else_ around him instead…

“Anything you want to say to the folks at home before you do?”

He thought about it… He could try to explain his thoughts… try to repent for what he’d done… try to tell everyone not to give up hope against the mastermind, regardless of what _he’d_ done… try to tell his father he loved him, and thanks for the hugs and sorry for piling on yet more shame on their family…

But he didn’t. He didn’t deserve a chance to speak… he’d not given anyone else one. He pushed the button… the correct answer was ‘ _KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU’._

The chain around his neck choked him again, the very least of what he deserved, and would hopefully now _get_ … He hoped his punishment would be painful… he hoped it would be torturous…He hoped it would be everything he’d inflicted on his classmates and more… a final _horrific_ punishment to serve as repentance for the _horrific_ thing he’d done to his friends, their family… and the _whole world_. Something so horrible it might just manage to lighten the black sins he’d just performed from his soul…

Instead, he found himself chained to a pole atop a vehicle, his hand encased in a moving metal contraption that forced it to wave and the surrounding crowd of cheering Monokumas. He was opposite a sign reading “Prime Minister Kiyotaka’s Inauguration Ceremony”.

Prime Minister Kiyotaka… Monokuma had given him a taste of his dream…

If only he’d not been so _stupid…_ This could have been _glorious_ … He could have stood here, head held tall, able to enjoy the spectacle and the taste of the dream he’d worked so hard towards but would never get the chance to live… because he’d realised right from the _start_ he’d have to sacrifice his life in order to save that of his friends, and had done so happily…

What a moment of _hope_ that would have been for the ‘folks at home’! They’d have seen him bravely standing here… maybe he could have even made a _speech!_ An inspiring speech for his friends telling them to live on without him! A message of love for his father, telling him that regardless of what his grandfather had done, he’d always been _proud_ to be the son of _Takaaki_ Ishimaru! A message of _hope_ for all the people of the world, telling them that the ‘mastermind’ could be beaten, with hard work and sacrifice by ordinary people, ordinary people _like him!_

But no… he’d not shown that ordinary people would sacrifice themselves for the greater good… he’d shown that they were _stupid_ and _evil_ and would tear down those above them for the _pettiest_ of reasons… He’d shown that the mastermind would win against _ordinary_ people… and he’d _killed_ the extraordinary people that might have been able to save them in the process!

The vehicle started moving and he wearily lent against the chains… no standing tall for the evil, ordinary person… He wondered what would happen, would the Monokuma’s turn on him for some scandal and rip him to shreds? Would the vehicle crash and burst into flames, slowly roasting him in the process… maybe it could cook him into something that went well with butter, so he’d be able to be with _Mondo_ …

Ah… no. He could see what was going to happen. There was a sniper, over on the grassy knoll over there. He was going to be shot. He realised that fact a second before the bullet struck his heart.

That was it… just a single bullet. It didn’t even hurt that much, he could just feel his life draining away as his heartbeat slowed. The people around the world would be furious… he’d sent their _hopes_ to die in the most torturous ways, and in return all _he’d_ got was a tiny little bullet in the heart, while getting to play pretend that he’d achieved his dream…

And he could even see his classmates… the six he’d killed himself and the eight who’d died before, standing together, looking down at him as he slumped down into the chains… he couldn’t see their faces… not even his Kyoudai’s… but he didn’t need to… he didn’t need to see them to know they’d be looking at him with hate and disgust and anger at his utter _stupidity._

If only he could tell them… if only he could say he wished he could take it back… that he’d jump in a time machine in a _second_ if it meant he could punch himself in the face for even _considering_ pushing any of those buttons! But he couldn’t and for that he was…

“…sorry.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaaand that ended up being waaay more depressing than I meant it to be... I was seriously considering adding a "kids in heaven" bit where he gets to talk to the others just to lighten it a bit, but wasn't sure if that would make it feel too cheap...


End file.
